Hey! Hope you like this story! Things are starting to heat up!

Trigger warning that the next chapter is going to have graphic descriptions of violence, sexual assault, and hostage situation so beware and read it at your own accord!

Enjoy this chapter and thank you for reading!

It was the night of the Founders' Party and Heritage Display party and there was a party for it, Elena asked Stefan to be her date at the party and he accepted. Knowing that they should be getting closer and they hadn't had any deep meaningful conversations and she thought that tonight would be a good start. Better late than never. According to the original timeline as Elena remembered she should have already met Damon but he was nowhere in sight now!

Elena was amused by living in the 2009 again instead of the 2020s, they sucked and there was always this uncertainty while 2000s and 2009 specifically felt safe...it all ended with the Brussels, Belgium terrorist attack happened in 2016 and everything went down hills from there.

Getting ready with both Bonnie and Caroline was fun and she had managed to persuade Jeremy to come with her so he can chaperone Caroline and Bonnie. Jeremy looked nice in his suit and Elena had a feeling that it would be a fun and safe night.

Elena, Bonnie, Caroline and Jeremy were looking great and Elena admired them as they walked to the door and she saw Stefan looking fine. Before she left her phone vibrated with a "Have fun" and "Be Careful" texts from Enzo and Slater and she smiled.

The smile didn't go unnoticed by Stefan but didn't say anything. Arriving at the party they entered said pleasantries and separated by Caroline threw her a look and Elena smiled.

"I will keep an eye out for Damon and if anything happen I will look for you." Caroline whispered to her as she and Caroline remained back as they allowed people to go in between them and Elena hoped they were out of his ear shot.

"Thank you and be safe too!" Elena emphasized the words trying to remind Caroline that she's not invincible and Caroline nodded.

The party went without a hitch as she managed to split time between being alone with Stefan and enjoying the exhibit and dancing with him while eating and chatting with her friends. She also noticed an odd dance between Caroline and Jeremy they looked to be very cozy and she looked confused at it for a moment before Stefan directed her attention to him.

"So do you have any more siblings other than Damon? Where is he by the way?" She asked conversationally and Stefan said yes and told her more about Damon.

"Is he here or he lives out of town?" Elena asked feigning intrigue and Stefan nodded.

"He's out of town." Stefan answered shortly which let Elena know that he's either in the dungeon detox program which would leave a huge question as to who is killing all these people.

After that she changed the topic and she didn't pressure.

Stefan escorted all home and they all had a sleepover minus Stefan and Elena was okay with it. And as always she emailed Enzo and Slater about her day before she went to bed.

In the morning she sneaked out of the house to her training session at the ARMORY and she felt particularly in tune with herself and she seemed to be doing amazingly! Avoiding punched, flipping opponents and shooting dead set on the target.

"You're on fire Gilbert!" Michael Salazar exclaimed during lunch as she smiled at him in thanks.

During magic lessons time with Miss Amelia Parrish after lunch she was doing great and she conjured fire and moved two items with her mind and even managed to freeze an arrow mid air!

She chuckled as she and Anna Lewis, a fellow witch trainee, was sharing the story about the time she set her brother's afro on fire instead of his birthday candle when Enzo met up with her.

"I found Damon." Enzo said seriously once Anna excused herself and left them alone.

"Where is he?" Elena asked tense and Enzo handed her a file.

"He's at the boarding house as expected and Stefan is barely doing anything to contain him. The Council was re-activated and if the dead bodies reached six, they will definitely attack." Enzo informed her seriously as Elena skimmed over the folder.

"Repeat 1864 you mean." Elena stated and Enzo nodded.

"They don't have the Gilbert watch which means they will try to get it somehow...you have an informant inside the Council?" Elena theorized at first and then questioned surprised at the realization that Enzo just told her a piece of information he shouldn't be privy to without an inside man.

"Yes we do."

"Are there any vampire families or people in town? Can they make arrangement to leave for a few days in case they managed to fix the device?" Elena asked scared and Enzo shrugged.

"We can find out. It's the weekend, Elena, go home enjoy it and let us worry about it."

"No, I won't, I signed up for this! Keep me posted. Will the ARMORY do anything if the Council starts its vampire hunt?"

"Yes, it will get bloody."

"Alright...let's prevent that."

"You're very stubborn, kid!" Enzo shook his head and Elena smirked.

She returned home only to be questioned by Caroline and Bonnie where she disappeared all day to.

"Grieving group, actually." Elena lied effortlessly and both teen girls seemed to frown a bit regretting their questioning.

She spent the rest of the day with her friends at the Grill where she saw Stefan for a bit.

Sunday, her training was only four hours so around 12 pm she was picking up lunch when she finally saw Stefan and Damon. She saw how Damon froze seeing her and then told something to Stefan who in turn studied her. She was dressed as if she had returned from the gym so she could say she had gone to the gym.

Stefan walked up to her and smiled greeting her. As predicted he asked her where she was coming from and she said the gym. And Damon then interfered and introduced himself again while Elena played it as if she was glad to see him again and reminded him they had already met each other.

Elena was called in for her order and she bid her goodbye to them before rushing to get it. Both Salvatore brothers watched her leave.

And like that it started as she expected. Damon tried to compel her to kiss him during a late night game practice she stayed to watch Stefan since on Monday after their meeting at the Grill, Stefan asked her out on a date and they were dating.

She told Stefan which got Damon locked up before he could kill a sixth body. Enzo emailed her saying that since she didn't hand in the Gilbert watch the Council was sitting on their asses.

There was no talk about opening any vampire tomb but Bonnie informed them that her Grams had already started teaching her magic yet Bonnie was still not a believer. Mrs. Lockwood kept pestering both Jeremy and her about the watch too. But after two weeks of telling her they had no idea where the watch was Mrs. Lockwood gave up. Enzo emailed her that all the vampires of the town took a few weeks' vacation just to be safe.

On the Stefan and Elena front, Stefan seemed to be more willing to start a sort of relationship yet the weird thing started happening the moment Elena and Stefan had their first kiss after their first date which happened a week after the Founder's Party. The weird thing that started happening was that every time she mentioned Stefan's name on the phone or on an email things would be knocked off selves.

"Um...I think I'm being haunted!" She exclaimed terrified one day after she managed to sneak to Slater's apartment and he opened the door.

"Haunted you say?" Slater asked intrigued as he stepped aside and she walked inside and started explaining the deal.

"Have you talk to Amelia Parrish?" Slater asked and Elena sighed and shrugged.

"Maybe you should..." Slater started talking but his words trailed as he gaped while looking behind Elena.

"Should I what?" Elena asked confused and Slater pointed behind her. She twirled around to come face to face with a very pissed off looking man.

Elena's memory screamed two names at once;

"Spiros"

"Finn"

Yet she said none of these names instead she said;

"You keep throwing my shit?"

"Really? That's is going the first thing you say to me?"

"I'm confused! How do you two know each other?" Slater exclaimed confused and taken aback.

"Yeah...remember the story about the first boy I fell in love with?" Elena asked rhetorically and Slater nodded slowly before his eyes widen.

"How is possible?" Slater asked shocked.

"Well, when you spent almost a thousand years in between life and death you die and you get a second life yet every time you die your soul gets dragged back to this body because it's still chained to it....so now I'm in between lives. In other words I'm a ghost." Finn explained and Slater nodded and then asked Finn to repeat it as he wrote it down in his notes. Finn chuckled and did repeat before Elena asked why was he vandalizing her space.

"Because, your crush on me was never one-sided yet we never had time to be something and we have a second chance, just find my coffin so we can be together yet you wasting your time dating Stefan someone you barely like." Finn stated hurt and betrayed and Elena looked sad.

"The timeline..."

"Excuse me but what timeline? You have changed it so much!" Finn cut her off and Elena opened her mouth to speak but saw Slater's face which agreed with Finn.

"We can make an attempt to free him just like we did with Enzo." Slater suggested and Elena looked tempted for a moment and Finn looked excited.

"Guys, no, it's too risky...I'm not ready to be in Mikaelson radar...I'm sorry Finn..." Elena said scared and apologetic as she stepped closer to Finn's ghost and touched his cheek. All of them gasped when Elena managed to grasp Finn's cheek and Finn touched her hand surprised and overwhelmed.

Slater smiled happy and then his eyes widened when Finn grasped Elena's waist and brought her closer to him and kissed her. Elena kissed him back just as passionately.

"Um...guys?" Slater said uncomfortably as the make out session got too steamy.

"Sorry...." Elena said a bit embarrassed as she pushed Finn back and they stopped kissing.

"Not that I'm happy you two get a second chance but Stefan doesn't deserve to be played and cheated on." Slater reminded Elena and Finn who eyed each other sad.

"And you already have made moves and went on a date with the guy, break up with him and be with Finn but that wouldn't help with everything because we don't know how things would evolve!" Slater reminded them and Elena frowned.

"He's right, Finn...it's not the fair thing..."Elena said defeated as she stepped away from Finn and Finn looked heartbroken.

"Friends then?" Finn tried to suggest and Elena smiled a bit and nodded hesitantly.

"Okay, since we sorted this out, you need to go back to your home and you need to stop vandalizing her things!" Slater said as he pointed each other and both ghost and doubleganger nodded.

Elena returned home a bit paranoid that the Salvatores had seen her but they hadn't according to Finn's reassurance. With that solved she could focus on the Damon issue because he should have made an appearance but he hadn't and the bodies kept piling up but not to the same extend.

"Finn, where is Damon? What happened to him? Have you seen?" Elena asked the air in her room hoping that Finn was there.

"Yes, I've seen. You did a number on him and Stefan had him locked in the cellar but he escaped but he doesn't have his daylight ring so he's hiding and kills at night to feed." Finn answered as he appeared and sat by her bedside. Elena instinctively got closer to him.

"So, we need to find him." Elena stated deep in thoughts.

"No, he's Stefan's trouble. You need to keep training and protecting Caroline and Bonnie and your brother and aunt." Finn reminded her and Elena sighed as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"You saw me kill myself, didn't you?" Elena asked silently and Finn nodded as he avoided looking at her.

"I thought I tore my own vocal cords yelling at you not to do it and that there's hope but you couldn't see me or hear me." Finn admitted defeated and Elena closed her eyes guilty and in pain.

"I'm sorry..." Elena whispered as tears spilled down her cheeks but Finn jerked away from her and turned to face her.

"You don't apologize! You wanted the pain to end and you did the only thing you could think of." Finn emphasized as he cupped her face and wiped her tears away.

"We are here now, no need to think of the past." Finn added comforting her and Elena nodded as she tried to calm down.

Somehow inside Finn's ghostly embrace Elena fell asleep and woke up to the sound of her alarm clock. Time for school.

The next two days were spent with Elena going to school, at training, at the Grill with her friends and small walk dates with Stefan. Stefan and her had agreed on a movie to her house but when he didn't show up she went to his house. Knocking the door she expected Zach or Stefan even Lexi to open the door but not Damon!

Stefan was by the door in nano-seconds while Damon stared at Elena shocked.

"You!" Damon whispered angrily and Elena feigned confusion, her heart kept under control thanks to her training. If she didn't have that she would have been puking from anxiety and even screamed and run away from the door the moment her brain registered Damon's face.

"Me?" Elena asked playing the part of a confused teen.

And like that Elena started getting yelled at by Damon. Then Stefan appeared in seconds and yelled louder so the Damon's yells to seize and Stefan said that it was impossible to be the one who shot him with wooden bullets.

"Why would I shoot you?!" Elena exclaimed playing the part of a shocked and confused girl being accused of a heinous act.

And the vampiric cat was out of the bag when Damon exclaimed that because she was vampire hunter. Which resulted into Elena asking questions.

"I didn't shoot you! I had no idea that vampires existed until today!" Elena stated hurt at Damon's angry face.

"Elena..."

"Stefan, I need time to digest what both of you have said..." Elena said as she stepped away from Stefan who made a move to come closer to her and then she rushed to the door.

She heard Stefan stopping Damon from stopping her saying she needed time.

In the safety of her home she texted both Slater and Enzo the news and looked at Finn who was sitting in her room waiting.

"They fessed up." Elena stated to Finn and she felt a few pounds lighter.

The next day she woke up to Finn telling her to wake up because Stefan was here. She went quickly wore her cardigan and rushed downstairs to see Jenna talking to Stefan and having invited him in. She mentally cursed her aunt's Southern hospitality.

"Can we talk?" Stefan asked her guilty and Elena sighed deeply.

"Wait for me to get ready and we can talk on the way to school." Elena said as she quickly rushed upstairs to get dress and throw a glare at Finn who was glaring her way.

She got dressed as fast as she could and Finn added a "be careful" comment before she walked away waving him bye. She climbed down the stairs dressed in traditional 2000s attire she wasn't much of a fun. As they drove Stefan asked her about her thoughts on the whole vampire thing.

"It's a huge thing...especially our age difference...isn't it kinda creepy?" Elena asked him a bit uncomfortable.

That definitely caught him off guard and Elena fought off a smirk.

"We can stop dating if you don't feel comfortable, we can be just friends." Stefan suggested and it seemed painful for him to suggest meaning he had already started falling for her. She inwardly winced a bit feeling bad for him.

Deep down she always felt something deeper for Spiros/Finn that she never allowed herself to feel for anybody else in her previous life nor in this one. And she didn't feel that for Stefan. And seeing Finn again it brought all these emotions and memories to the surface but Slater was right, she mustn't string Stefan along like Katherine but at the same time she had no idea what would happen if she didn't date Stefan.

"No, it's okay...I just need to get used to dating a fossil!" Elena joked and Stefan got surprised by her joke but he chuckled.

After that their relationship went back to normal minus the historical questions. Hearing him was entertaining and amusing thinking about the knowledge of the future.

She asked a few questions the original Elena didn't think to ask.

"I need to confess something too Stefan." She said one day as they were walking inside the school.

"What is it?" Stefan asked and Elena sighed.

"I got to grief counseling every day after school and I have skipped a lot and I need to go back to it. So, after school I have to go there, we can hang out on weekends." She confessed and Stefan nodded as he seemed to believe that.

And like that she was back at training. Enzo was itching to get his hands on Damon but he knew it wasn't the time yet.

And like clockwork Damon started trying to get Emily Bennett's crystal for the tomb vampires still convinced that Katherine was in that church. Yet he hadn't hurt Caroline or Vicki. Bonnie was being trained and becoming a believer more and more each day.

Coach Sullivan announced every trainee that they were walking their last week of training before they are fully fledged ARMORY Agents. Everyone cheered and got more focused on their training.

A week came and went really fast and Elena found herself standing amongst her fellow trainees at their graduation ceremony as Slater and Enzo were proudfully watching from the crowd.

"And now I call upon Agent Marilena Dimitriadou- Petrova!" Coach Sullivan called and Elena smiled proudly as she walked over the stage to receive her badge. She had chosen this name as to put as much distance to Elena Gilbert and the Gilbert family as possible for their safety.

Enzo and Slater whistled and clapped for her and she bowed laughing. And she gleefully eyed her fellow agents and squealed.

"We did it!!!" Elena exclaimed as she raised her champagne glass at the graduation party at a local pub. Pictures were taken and dancing and food was endless.

Elena felt on cloud nine as she danced with Enzo and Slater and her fellow friends.

Come next day they would be on the agent roster only meant to be in this building when assigned missions. She had met her handler Enzo who surprised her as she run into his awaiting bear hug.

It was 12 am when she sneaked back in her room and saw Finn waiting for her.

"I'm so proud of you!" He said and they hugged as she thanked him. She quietly did her routine and told him all about the party, he was watching over so they gossiped a bit.

And like always she fell asleep in his arms. Is that considered emotionally cheating?

The next day at school during lunch when Stefan let her know that Damon was looking for Katherine in the tomb and wanted a Bennett witch to open it.

"No, he mustn't accost Bonnie's grandma or Bonnie herself! If he does he will have me to deal with!" Elena warned him and Stefan for the first time saw something truly menacing. It made him a bit worry.

"Too late, he said he was going to talk to Sheila as I was going to school." Stefan said guilty and Elena raised her eyebrows at him and rolled her eyes disappointed.

They walked to the cafeteria in silence as Elena walked further away from Stefan and she practically marched away from Stefan. After school, Elena emailed Slater if he had anything on Katherine sightings from 1864 up to now.

"She's not in the tomb, you know that?" Finn asked her rhetorically as he stood over her as she was sitting on her computer.

"I know but Damon won't take my foreknowledge without extra questions and I can't tell them or him the truth. So, I need evidence and research." Elena commented as she glared at her email hoping Slater was online and was quick to answer.

"So, you gonna play that you pulled a research up your ass?" Finn challenged her and Elena eyed him confused.

"No...what do you mean?" Elena asked confused as she pushed from the desk.

"How long were you keeping tabs on Katherine to have such a thorough research compiled so fast? And how you knew about it? You gotta make it look believable, honey." Finn explained softly as he sat on her bay window and they stared at each other as Elena realized he was right.

"Shit..."

"I can say that I paid someone from Craigslist who saw the ad I put on....or I can play it coy and say that a magician never reveals his secrets or play that I really really cared for the safety of my town and Damon's psyche so I spent all night compiling said research?" Elena suggested and Finn chuckled.

"I forgot how crafty you were with the lies." Finn mused and Elena smirked.

"But I do care for Damon's psyche. What both went through with Katherine was abusive and they need to heal from it. And Katherine needs to heal from her own traumas. As they say hurt people hurt people, they are the definition of that term in my humble opinion." Elena stated wisely and Finn nodded agreeing with her.

Just then her laptop binged and Slater had answered back with attaching several PDF files.

"Now, you have to buy folders and print all of it." Finn said and Elena nodded as she pulled out her flash drive and uploaded the files. Then she went to her dad's office, opened the desktop computer and printer and started printing.

Jenna came to ask her what she was doing and she lied saying she was printing an essay. Two hours later, Elena was chronologically piling the files in folders Jeremy brought her after she texted him asking him to buy some on his way home.

By 8 pm Elena had everything ready and double checked them so it won't show it was Slater's research. She knew he liked his anonymity. Elena called Stefan asking if she could come over and got an affirmative answer.

The moment she walked into the house she asked for Damon who was sitting by the piano and she smiled awkwardly before handing him the seven folders filled to the brink of their ability.

"Katherine isn't in the tomb, Damon, no need to free a bunch of vampires and get the Council on our asses. Here's the research to prove that." Elena stated sternly as she watched Damon's shocked expression and then eyed Stefan who looked surprised.

"How did you find these?" Stefan asked surprised.

"A magician never reveals its secrets. There legit though, I trust the source." She answered cryptically and both Salvatore brothers were too engrossed in reading through Slater's finding to really pay her attention.

She smiled sadly and quietly made her way out. Reaching home she saw Jenna and Jeremy put on some Star Wars movie to watch and joined them. She saw Finn also sitting with them and she smiled at him only to have the smile returned by him.

She was sad that some things won't happen like Anna reuniting with her mother. She did want to reunite them but Bonnie wasn't ready, Grams was too sick for such a spell and Bonnie needed her alive to teach Bonnie sufficiently. And as for herself, she wasn't able to do such a magic spell yet. According to Amelia Parrish she was a very good witch but she doubted she could do the spell needed to open the tomb....not yet at least. Maybe in a year or two.

"Has Anna come to town yet?" Elena asked as she curled next to Finn and he sighed.

"No, not yet, I will let you know when she does." Finn assured her before they exchanged good nights.

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